"Mina," Solana said, her mandibles flicking in what she'd come to recognize as a turian smile. "I'm so happy to see you."
Solana pulled her in for a hug.
"Aster," she said more softly in her ear. "I'm glad you're safe."
"Solana," Aster greeted, stepping back. "Long time no see."
"How long are you planning on being on the Citadel?" Solana asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Aster admitted. "I just landed. I'm hoping to explore the Citadel a bit."
"Do you have a place to stay?" She asked, concerned.
"Just planning on renting a room," She replied, almost embarrassed.
"No," Solana said firmly. "I have an empty bed you can use until you know what you're doing."
"Give me that," Solana continued as she grabbed Shepard's bag from her hands. "No friend of mine will rent a room. I have an empty bed you can take and stay as long as you need to."
"Alright," Aster said, unable to resist. "Lead the way."
"See, that wasn't so bad," SAM commented as Aster followed Solana to a transport. "You two get along just fine."
"It's not fair to her," Aster argued, still angry.
"Here I'll show you how good a friend she is."
While the transport took them to their destination, Aster sat in silence as SAM showed her the multiple conversations that took place between Solana and SAM behind her back. By the time they arrived at their destination, Aster definitely considered Solana to be her best friend.
Solana had been nothing but supportive of Aster's decision to leave and get surgery. They even talked about boys and other things women talked about; something she wouldn't normally do.
"How was the trip?" Solana asked, breaking the silence.
"Not bad," She replied. "I didn't realize so many people traveled so early in the morning."
"Yeah, usually the transports are empty, but it's the Turian New Year coming up soon," she replied as the transport passed into the turian living quarters on the Citadel. "Since the turians are part of the Council, the Citadel throws a huge event to celebrate. They do the same with the Salarians and Asari."
"I had forgotten about that," Aster said. She remembered seeing a commercial on Junhix about it. "It's about a week from today."
"Yes," Solana replied excitedly. "The clinic I work at is giving us the week off to celebrate...and since you're here, I figured we can celebrate together."
"I'm not much for tradition," Aster warned her. "Humans and turians are still a bit unfamiliar..."
"The Citadel has changed since then," Solana explained. "I've seen a lot more intimate relationships between the two...and...you are part turian...with those implants..."
"I guess you're right," Aster said, smiling. "I think I can manage a celebration or two."
"Great!" Solana said, almost jumping up from her seat. "I have so much we can do together."
"I can't wait," Aster replied. "I can use the distraction."
"We're here," Solana said as the transport made a stop in front of a fancy-looking building. "Come on."
Aster grabbed her bag and followed Solana out of the transport and into the building. There was an asari manning the front desk and greeted them as they entered.
"We're on the third floor," Solana commented, leading the way to the elevator. "My brother kept on saying I needed better security, so I had him install a new monitoring system. State of the art, as he likes to call it."
"If your brother knows anything about tech security," Aster said, "I'm sure it's the best security there is."
Solana opened the door to her apartment and headed straight to what Aster assumed was a spare bedroom.
"This room is yours," she said, opening the door. "My brother left some stuff here, but you're more than welcome to get it out of the way."
"I'll be in the kitchen getting some snacks," Solana said, not lingering around.
Aster entered the room and saw a medium-sized turian bed, a closet to one side, and a tech table full of spare parts. Solana's brother was obviously into tech. Aster unpacked her things and put them in the closet before heading to the kitchen.
On her way, Aster saw three more doors before the area opened up to a living room and kitchen furnished with all elegant turian-style furniture.
"Your apartment looks nice," She commented, walking into the kitchen.
"Thanks," Solana replied, bringing over some turian chips and beer. "I moved in over a month ago. My mother helped me choose the style."
"How are you really feeling?" She asked, looking at Aster, extremely concerned.
"Well, a lot has happened," Aster answered. "I don't want to involve you any more than you already are."
"Aster," Solana said sternly. "We're friends, please, I want to help."
Aster gave her a long look and sighed heavily, "Fine, but we're going to need more beers."
*
"How can anyone think you are involved with this nonsense?" Solana asked after Aster had shared a bit about the reason why she had returned to the Citadel. "You were cleared by the Council of all charges, including knowing about the A.I. What happened afterward is not your fault; you're the victim."
"All I know is that someone is trying to frame me," Aster replied. "I don't know why or how they found that clip, but it's not true. I would never knowingly take part in anything like that."
"To think that two Spectres were sent to find you... I'm sure they're desperate to end all of this. I know you wouldn't do anything like that against your will," Solana replied, finishing her beer. "I get the feeling they want you dead so that they can study the connection between you and the A.I..."
"Aster, I want you to know," she continued. "I trust you, and I'll help in any way I can."
"I don't want you involved," Aster immediately said. "You're a respectful doctor. You don't need this drama. I don't want you to be blamed if something goes wrong."
"Maybe I can get my brother to help you," Solana said thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure if it'll work out..."
"You don't trust him?" Aster asked curiously. She had never asked her who her brother was.
"I don't want to expose you," Solana replied. "I can ask if he is willing to listen, but he's out on a mission."
"What does your brother do?" Aster asked curiously.
"He's a Spectre," Solana said, then hurried to add. "He's a good guy; he would never do anything that would jeopardize his moral code. He doesn't like to see innocent people get bullied."
"I-I don't know," Aster hesitated.
"How about this?" Solana proposed. "I'll see if I can't find out when he'll be back from his mission, and then we can decide if we want to involve him...okay?"
"Fine," Aster agreed. "I'll think about it."
The next morning, Aster woke up feeling different; having spoken to Solana for several hours to figure out a plan helped ease her load a bit. She was still reluctant about involving Soloana's brother, but it would be helpful to have a Spectre who could look into things.
'What do you think?" Aster asked SAM as she rolled over and looked up at the ceiling.
'She has good intentions,' SAM replied. 'But I don't know if you'll want her help when you find out who her brother is.'
'Who is her brother?' Aster asked, not sure if she wanted to know.
'You should ask her,' SAM replied, not revealing anything.
'You're such a tease,' Aster mumbled, getting out of bed. 'I'll ask her when she gets back.'
After a quick shower, Aster got changed and picked up the apartment a bit; it was the least she could do to thank Solana for her hospitality.
'Solana should be off from work in about 10 minutes,' SAM informed her. 'Shall I look for quick recipes for dinner?'
'Let's look and see what she has in the fridge,' Aster replied, going into the kitchen.
By the time Solana had come home, Aster had pasta boiling and the vegetables cut. All that was left was to cook the meat, but that wouldn't take too long.
"Mina," Solana called out as she entered. "Are you here?"
Aster got the feeling Solana wanted to be discreet since she was calling her by her fake name.
"In the kitchen," She replied, coming out to see her. "I was just getting dinner ready."
"It smells good," Solana replied, taking off her coat and walking over.
"The least I could do," Aster stated. "It'll be ready in 10 minutes."
"I'll go wash up," Solana said, heading toward the bathroom.
'SAM, can you do a sweep?' Aster asked; she wanted to know if anyone was listening in.
'There's a krogan camping outside,' SAM replied after a few minutes of silence. 'I'll only take a minute for me to get access to their omni-tool.'
'Let me know what you find.'
Aster went back to the kitchen and finished up dinner. When Solana came back out, she casually came into the kitchen and placed a piece of paper on the counter. Aster gave her an odd look and went to read it.
'A krogan approached me today. They started asking questions about one of my patients I treated, you specifically. I'm pretty sure he followed me; he may even have a bug around the place.'
"I'll set the table," Solana offered.
Aster readied their plates before bringing them over to the dining table.
"How was your day?" Aster asked as they sat down.
"Pretty much the same," she replied. "Mostly routine checks up, nothing exciting."
"I spent most of my time sleeping," Aster replied, smiling. "It was a good call to spend my vacation time on the Citadel."
"How's the clinic treating you?"
"Same old, same old," Aster replied, thinking back. "I've seen some pretty nasty things every now and then. Most of our patients have low income and are in need of daily help. There wasn't much time to be squeamish."
"It reminds me of when I used to work in the trauma section of the hospital," Solana said, leaning back on her chair. "I had just started my internship."
"I'm sure it brings back memories," Aster said. "Thanks for letting me stay here, it's only temporary."
"Don't worry about it, Mina," Solana replied. "We've been friends for many years; it's the least I can do."
'The krogan is still outside,' SAM reported. 'From what I can gather, someone hired them to find you.'
'Can he hear us?'
'No,' he replied.
Aster hesitated.
"Solana," Aster said softly as Solana began to eat dinner. "Who's your brother?"
"His name is Garrus," she replied, taking a bite out of the meat. "Do you know him?"
Aster sighed heavily. She should have known they were related; their clan markings were identical. Aster couldn't believe she had missed that important piece. Then again, it wasn't like Aster had time to study Garrus's clan marking.
"That's true," SAM agreed. "You spent so much time looking at his blue eyes that you didn't notice anything else."
"Shut it," Aster hissed at him.
"I know him," Aster admitted.